Developed for Secondary School audiences to help them learn about NASA’s upcoming Ground Validation Campaign, the Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX)

October 2015

Dorian JanneyGPM Education Specialist

NASA’s OLYMPEX Field Campaign

Objectives:

From this presentation, you will:• Gain an understanding of how and why NASA

measures precipitation from space• Be able to describe the upcoming OLYMPEX ground

validation campaign• Explain the purpose of ground validation campaigns

for Earth-observing satellite missions

Earth-Observing Satellites

Measuring Earth’s Precipitation

“Our Wet Wide World”

Ground Validation Campaigns

• Satellites make their measurements using very complicated instruments. In order to be sure that the instruments are making accurate measurements, scientists and engineers need to conduct special tests, known as “ground validation campaigns”.

• In these campaigns, large groups of scientists and engineers make a plan to figure out how to best make measurements from the ground so they can compare them with what the satellite is “seeing”- the data the satellite is collecting.

• The goal is to make sure that the satellite’s instruments are accurately collecting data for lots of different types of locations.

OLYMPEX Ground Validation Campaign

OLYMPEX

What is OLYMPEX? A Ground Validation field campaign to verify and

validate a precipitation measuring satellite called the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM)

Will take place November 2015 through February 2016 on the Olympic Peninsula

Will measure the rain and snow amounts and precipitation characteristics over the ocean, the coast, and the mountains.

Will track storms, their clouds and precipitation characteristics and their modification as they move from the ocean to the windward then to the leeward side of the Olympic Mountains

OLYMPEX

How can we measure rain?Hard to measure precipitation in remote locations such

as over the oceans and mountainsA good way to monitor these locations is using satellitesNeed to calibrate these satellite measurements to

ensure good data.

Hurricane Ridge Olympic Nat’l

Park

GPM Core Observatory

Where will this campaign be?

The Climatology of the Olympic Peninsula

Persistent moist onshore flow produces extraordinary annual precipitation totals

2500 mm (100”) on the coast and more than 4750 mm (180”) in the interior

Climatology of MSLP from Nov-Feb from NCEP Reanalysis grids 1979 – 2012

Annual average precipitation in inches from PRISM (Parameter-elevation Regressions Independent Slopes Model)

Typical Frontal Passage Three different regimes!

Prefrontal

Frontal

Postfrontal

Typical Frontal Passage Three different regimes!

SW side of Olympics gets rain well ahead of frontSW side gets rain during frontSW side gets post-frontal showers

PrefrontalFrontalPostfrontal

Go to the Olympics to measure rain!!!Want to measure rain and snow and the weather

systems that produce them Rainfall characteristics – How big are the raindrops? How

many raindrops with how much liquid water? How does rain/snow vary with terrain? Melting level variability Snow pack accumulation

How are we going to do that? Ground instrumentation (precipitation gauges,

microphysical instruments, snow cameras, snow surveys) Oct. 2015 – April 2016

Ground-based weather radars, Nov. 2015 – Dec. 21, 2015 and Jan 2 – 15, 2016.

Aircraft-based measurements Nov. 6, 2015 – Dec. 21, 2015.

Geographical Regions

Quinault

Chehalis

Ocean - offshore

High Terrain

Leeward side

Windward side – Quinault and Chehalis are river basins where we are monitoring the response of the rivers to falling rain and snow

Rain GaugesTipping Bucket style (single

and Dual)Need to be in lower

elevations

Ground Instruments – Measuring Rain

Instruments that measure characteristics of the precipitation – drop size, reflectivity, etc.

Pluvio: Weighing rain gauge for rain/snow

Parsivel – Can measure the number of drops and their sizes

MRR

PIP

MRR – Micro Rain Radar, a radar that looks up only

PIP – Can measure snow crystal shapes

Ground Instruments – Measuring Rain

Ground Sites Radar – NASA Polarimetric Weather Radar (NPOL)

Just installed NPOL Radar on the Quinault Indian Nation near the coast with clear views towards the Ocean and towards the Olympic Mountains

Ocean View Olympics

Putting together the reflector The NPOL radar when operating

Ground Sites Radar - Doppler on Wheels (DOW)

Will be installed at Lake Quinault so it can make measurements where the NPOL cannot see up the Quinault Valley.

Ground Instruments – Measuring Snow

Using marked poles and time-lapse cameras to measure snowfall accumulation and melt-off.

Precipitation event (snow) + Accumulation 1 of 2

Accumulation 2 of 2

Ground Instruments – Measuring Rain/Snow at remote locations and no power

Placed instrumented trailer at high elevation location (>3000’). It will remain on site all winter through spring

Has Pluvio – measures rain/snow amount)

Has Parsivel – measures rain/snow characteristics

Powered by 8 batteries and solar panels

Ground Instruments – Measuring Rain/Snow at remote locations and no power

Will do second installation of the same instruments plus batteries and solar panels where we have to hike 15 miles and the gear is carried by a Mule Train

Photo by Larry Workman QIN

Satellite Simulator instruments

Dropsondes over the oceanFlies at ~30,000 ft

DC-8

ER-2

Citation

Satellite Simulator instruments and Flies at ~60,000 ft

Cloud Microphysics instruments Flies at 2000 ft above highest

obstacle

Measuring Rain and Snow from Aircraft

Summary OLYMPEX is a ground validation campaign for the GPM satellite

OLYMPEX primary objective is to measure and document the characteristics of rain/snow from ocean to coast to complex terrain.

Will have installations of ground instruments at a variety of elevations and locations to measure rain/snow amounts and precipitation characteristics

High terrain measurements include snow cameras, 2 installations of sophisticated instruments where power is available, and 2 installations running on batteries/solar.

There will be 2 radars and 4 upper-looking micro radars and one DOW.

There will be 3 aircraft from Nov 6 – Dec 21 that will fly during intensive observation periods when we have approaching storm systems (complicated operations).

Graduate students will be helping with daily forecasting, assisting the Mission scientists, maintenance of ground instrumentation and operating the radars.

Acknowledgments

Most Photos are taken on the Olympic Peninsula

Photo credits: Bill Baccus, Olympic National Park Joe Zagrodnik, grad student University of Washington Dave Wolff, NASA Wallops Jessica Lundquist and students, Civil and Environmental

Engineering, University of Washington Larry Workman, Quinault Indian Nation

This work is supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NNX14AO64G (OLYMPEX).